Description

The CR.42 Falco is a rank I Italian fighter
with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.69 "Regia Aeronautica" along with the initial Italian aviation tree, though a variant existed in the Germany aircraft tech tree prior to the update.

The CR.42 possesses exceptional manoeuvrability, speed, and durability, especially for a biplane. Its armament is quite good as well, due to the Breda-SAFAT .50 calibre MGs. However, due to its BR, the majority of aircraft the CR.42 will engage are faster, and more heavily armed. The best bet for survival, and getting scores, is to climb to about medium altitude and lure fighters into turning combat. An overwhelming majority of pilots are unwilling to run from a lowly biplane, allowing you to score critical damage before they realize that they have expended all their energy and must extend away from you. By that time, the damage is usually severe enough that they cannot accelerate away from you quickly enough to escape further damage.

For the armament, the same applies to all other Italian aircraft; generally you want to use Tracers, Anti-air or Stealth since they are the belts that deal the most damage. Shell velocity is low, hence they suffer above 300 meters, so only fire at or below that range for best effects. Furthermore, much like the other Italian fighters the armament is woefully inadequate to deal with bombers, hence it is best to avoid them entirely, or focus on taking out the engines. Only exception are the very early biplane bombers, such as the Swordfish, Po-2 and other light bombers.

General info

Flight Performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics

Stock

Max Speed(km/h at 5,200 m)

Max altitude(meters)

Turn time(seconds)

Rate of climb(meters/second)

Take-off run(meters)

AB

RB

AB

RB

AB

RB

413

402

8 500

20.0

20.6

14.2

14.2

294

Upgraded

Max Speed(km/h at 5,200 m)

Max altitude(meters)

Turn time(seconds)

Rate of climb(meters/second)

Take-off run(meters)

AB

RB

AB

RB

AB

RB

447

429

8 500

18.5

19.2

21.1

17.2

294

Details

Features

Combat flaps

Take-off flaps

Landing flaps

Air brakes

Arrestor gear

X

X

X

X

X

Limits

Wing-break speed(km/h)

Gear limit(km/h)

Combat flaps(km/h)

Max Static G

+

-

578

580

520

~13

~5

Optimal velocities

Ailerons(km/h)

Rudder(km/h)

Elevators(km/h)

Radiator(km/h)

< 280

< 240

< 450

> 250

Compressor (RB/SB)

Setting 1

Optimal altitude

100% Engine power

WEP Engine power

4,300 m

828 hp

972 hp

Survivability and armour

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Armaments

Offensive armament

The two machine guns are both mounted on the upper fuselage just in front of the pilot and fire through the propeller arc. Each is armed with the same amount of ammunition, which means that all guns will fire together until empty.

Usage in battles

In Arcade Battles (AB), the CR.42 is nothing more than a point-and-shoot arcade-style plane. There is little skill involved at these early rank matches. Therefore turning is the most appropriate tactic. However, due to the high climb rate, BnZ can be effective, as most monoplanes cannot climb nearly as fast.

In Realistic Battles (RB) and Simulator Battles (SB), as in real life, the Falco faces off advanced mono-wing designs. While a grim view at first the CR.42 is the pinnacle of biplane evolution, only rivalled by the up-gunned Chaika series. Common opponents are faster and have superior armament. However, the CR.42 has got traits to counter. It is immensely agile, and can easily out-manoeuvre any monoplane in Rank I. Turning is thus an appropriate tactic for the CR.42. Due to it being a biplane, the Falco can also be used to effectively rope-a-dope enemy aircraft. Stall fighting is one of its strongest play styles, albeit the slowest and hardest to master.

Even Boom & Zoom is feasible, as altitude can be gained quickly; however, the lack of cannon armament forces the pilot to use significant trigger control as well as aiming when diving and attacking opponents at a lower level.
If booming and zooming, watch your speed in a dive. The CR.42 does have a limit of around 440 - 480 km/h (274 - 300 mph) before instability and finally failure sets in.

The Breda SAFAT .50 calibre MGs are actually very effective for their BR. Tracers are by far the best belt for these main armaments, due to the presence of entirely API-T rounds, which easily set fire to enemy planes and provide good penetration and damage capability. Due to the MGs being placed in the centre cowl, they provide heavy damage when the fire is focused on your opponent's wings or engines.
Unfortunately, MGs in general are ridiculously weak against bombers.

Another factor when flying in SB, visibility is normal for a biplane. Rearward vistas are non-existent while forward vision is hampered by the second strut/wing. The open cockpit does provide decent visibility in general, though.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements

Mixer

Pitch

Radiator

Supercharger

Turbocharger

Oil

Water

Type

Controllable

ControllableNot auto controlled

Not controllableNot auto controlled

ControllableNot auto controlled

Separate

Not controllable1 gear

Not controllable

Modules

Tier

Flight performance

Survivability

Weaponry

I

Fuselage repair

Radiator

Offensive 12 mm

II

Compressor

Airframe

III

Wings repair

Engine

New 12 mm MGs

IV

Engine injection

Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

High speed for a biplane

Good ammunition count

Manoeuvrability is sufficient to out turn nearly all non-biplane opponents

Well armed for a biplane

Ammo belts use heavy amounts of incendiary ammo

Cons:

Poor Energy Retention

Lightly armed compared to most of the opposition it is faced with

No options for striking heavy targets

Turn rate is worse than that of most biplanes

Poor armour protection

History

The CR.42 was Fiat's attempt at modernising their CR.32 design, which was deployed during the Spanish Civil War with great success. The new fighter would be of all metal construction, with Fiat's new, homegrown A.74 supercharged radial engine. The result was a fast, accurate, and manoeuvrable platform, that, while outdated at the onset of World War II, would be almost the pinnacle of biplane design.

Early in the war, CR.42's were used with some success as escorts, night fighters, and even interceptors. Against the early Hurricanes and Spitfires, Italian and German pilots both were delighted to find that the manoeuvrability of the Falco put it, at the least, on par in a dogfight. However as the war dragged on, and enemy aircraft became faster, the CR.42 was relegated to night harassment, light ground attack, and sparingly used as night fighters.

The CR.42 is also credited with the world's last aerial combat biplane kill. A group of CR.42's based in Croatia under the command of Nachtschlachtgruppe 7 were directed to Grabovica Airfield for a strafing mission. However, the flight was redirected at the last moment to a harassment mission northwest of Sisak, where they were intercepted by P-38's of the 14th Fighter Group. Three Fiats were lost for two P-38's, one of which was claimed by an unknown German pilot.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example: